Protected blade



Aug 18, 1942. J. MUROS 2,293,401

PROTECTED BLADE Filed Oct. 5, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR JosephMzzros AT RNEY Aug." 18, 1942. J, Mums 2,293,401

PROTECTED BLADE Filed Oct. 5, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Iii 7 l 34 Ii\ 33INVENTOR Joseph Muros Patented Aug. 18, 1942 PROTECTED BLADE JosephMuros, Cambridge, Mass, assignor to Gillette Safety Razor Company,Boston, Mass, a corporation of Delaware Application October 5, 1929,Serial No. 298,068

FFICE Claims.

This invention relates to the packaging offine edged blades, such forexample as safety razor blades. It consists in a novel wrapping by whichthe user is enabled to. withdraw in one motion a single blade from asealed envelope wherein the blade has been fully protected from moistureand from damage to. its keen shaving edge.

Blade manufacturers desire to dispense safety razor blades in printed.or lithographed envelopes having an attractive appearance and artisticappeal to the purchaser. Practical considerations render it necessary inmany. cases to protect the blade from moisture by completely orpartially enclosing it in a waterproof wrapping, and to protect the keenedge of the blade'by holding it definitely out of contact with the foldsof its envelope and wrapper. Accordingly, it is the practice to attachthe blade temporarily to a fiat portion of its wrapping by spots ofadhesive or by an interlocking configuration. All these expedients havebeen successively used in the past but at some sacrifice to theconvenience of the user in that it is, sometimes inconvenient to openthe sealed blade-enclosing envelope, more especially to find a startingplace for opening the envelope so that the blade may be withdrawnconveniently and without danger to the user or damage to the blade edgefrom contact with its Wrapping.

In one aspect the present invention consists in a sealed envelopecontaining a safety razor blade and presenting an easily located tab ortongue, the assembled unit being so organized that by merely pulling thetab the seal of the outer envelope may be broken and the blade withdrawntherefrom with its sharp edge guarded against injury from contact withthe outer envelope.

In its preferred form a characteristic of my invention consists in ablade envelope combined with a sheet wrapper in such a manner that oneflap of the envelope and one flap of the wrapper are foldedsimultaneously into contact with a previously folded part of theenvelope. In this way, a tongue of the wrapper may be arranged toproject freely out from under a sealed flap of the enevelope and all thesteps of wrapping and sealing may be carried out at a high rate of speedin automatic machinery.

An important feature Of my invention consists in so relating the innerwrapper and outer envelopethat when the blade is withdrawn from theenvelope the covering portion of the wrapper is stripped from it and theblade is presented in a fully exposed but edge-guarded condition.

Still another feature of my invention consists blade itself in theprocedure.

in the combination envelope and inner wrapper so related and of suchconstruction that the exposed blade Inay be presented by the userdirectly to the razor without requiring him to touch the As herein shownboth of the foregoing objects are attained by the slotting of theunderlying portion of the wrapper for the reception of theblade-locating projections of the razor and attaching the cover portionof the wrapper to the inside of the envelope. Accordingly, whenthewrapped blade is Withdrawn, the cover portion of the wrapper isstripped rom the blade because it is held within the envelope and 'isfinally torn off leaving the blade lightly attached tothe slottedunderlying portion of the wrapper. This may be then conveniently used asa conveying medium for transferring the blade into position upon thesafety razor and locating it upon the blade positioning projectionthereof. Finally this part of the wrapper is Withdrawn edgewise out ofthe razor from beneath the blade.

In my co-pending application, Serial Number 277,036, filed June 2, 1939,I have disclosed a protected blade enclosed in a wrapper and an envelopewhich is sealed so that the blade is released by widthwise movement andstated therein that it would be within the scope of my invention so todesign the envelope, and Wrapper as to release the blade by endwisemovement. In one aspect, the present invention comprises a constructionof wrapper and envelope so designed that the blade is released byendwise movement.

. This characteristic and other features of my invention will be bestunderstood and appreciated from the following description of a preferredembodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown inthe accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a blank for a blade envelope;

Fig. 2 is a plan view showing a, Wrapper blank with a blade positionedthereon;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing a wrapped blade in positionto be enclosed therein;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the complete protected blade package employingthe blanks of Figs. 1 and 2; I

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale on the line 5--5 of Fig.4.

Fig. 6 is a plan View showing a blade partially withdrawn from itspackage;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of a Wrapper blank of alternative shape;

Fig. 8 is a plan view showing a blade fully withdrawn from its envelope;and

Fig. 9 is a view in perspective illustrating the step of placing theprotected blade in a safety razor.

The blade envelope shown in Fig. 1 is designed to exhibit the printedinsignia of the manufacturer upon its outer surfaces and comprises arectangular body portion I having a long tapering flap I I at one end,short or narrow fiap I2 at the other end and tapering rectangular backflap I3 and front flap I4. Such a blank may he died out from paper stockand scored in a single operation as indicated by the dotted lines. Inpreparing such a blank for automatic wrapping machinery it is sometimesdesirable to provide the inner face of the end flap I2 with spots ofadhesive which are effective in the final wrapping step to seal theenvelope.

In Fig. 2 is shown a wrapper blank of oiled or waxed paper with a bladepositioned thereon. The blank comprises a rectangular body portion I5scored transversely to define the fold line of its two leaves and ofthese the cover portion I6 is provided in its free end with a concaverecess IT. The body portion I5 is provided at its free end with atapering tongue I8 which extends substantially beyond the end of theblade 20.

The blade selected for illustration is of a wellknown commercial type,sharpened on both longitudinal edges and having reentrant cornerrecesses which define elongated unsharpened end portions in the blade.The blade 20 is placed upon the body I 5 of the wrapper and held thereonby adhesive spots with its sharpened edges definitely located within thelongitudinal edges of the wrapper and one unsharpened end edge locatedin proximity to the fold line of the wrapper.

In Fig. 3 the wrapped blade is shown as located upon the envelope blankof Fig. 1 in position to be enclosed therein, that is to say, with thefolded wrapper coinciding substantially with and superposed upon thebody III of the envelope. In this position, it will be noted that thetongue I8 of the wrapper projects beyond the contour of the envelopeblank over the short flap I2. In the wrapping operation the end tab ortongue I I of the envelope is first folded inwardly upon the coverportion I6 of the wrapper. The back flap I 4 is then folded inwardly andsecured to the cover leaf I6 of the wrapper by adhesive spots and nextthe front flap I3 is folded over the flap I4 and secured thereto by oneor more spots of adhesive. Afterwards the short end flap I2 is foldedinwardly together with the tongue I8 of the wrapper and the fiap I2 issealed at its ends to the body of the package thus formed by adhesivespots I9.

It will be noted then in closing the envelope in the manner aboveoutlined the short flap I2 is separated from the body of the packagethroughout an intermediate portion of its length by the tongue I-8 andthat the adhesive spots I9 are located beyond the edges of this tongue.The tongue I8 may be left fiat upon the face of the folded flap I3 or itmay be folded outwardly around the inner edge of the flap I2 as avertex. The sealing of the short flap I2 in this manner completely sealsthe protected blade package.

Whatever may be the final position of the tongue I8 it remainsconspicuous in the package and easy of location by the user even withoutclose inspection. Accordingly, when he desires to remove the blade foruse all that is required is that he grasp and pull the tongue I8endwise, or toward the right as seen in Figs. 4 and 5, whereupon theadhesive spots holding the short flap I2 will be broken permitting theflap to be turned back into its fiat position as in Fig. 3. Furtherpulling upon the tongue I8 is effective to withdraw the blade endwiseupon the body portion I5 of its Wrapper from the envelope. The cover orupper leaf of the wrapper is held back in place during this movement byits connection with the envelope and the sharp edges of the blade areguarded meanwhile by the single thickness of the wrapper projectingbeyond them. When the wrapped blade has been wholly removed from theenvelope the wrapper has been unfolded and its cover portion I6 has beenentirely stripped from the blade which now lies fully exposed inconvenient position for the user to lift it from the underlying leaf ofits wrapper.

Figs. '7, 8 and 9 illustrate my invention as embodied in a wrapper andenvelope from which the blade may be withdrawn for presentation to thesafety razor without requiring the user to touch the blade. In thisembodiment of the invention the wrapper blank of oiled or waxed papercomprises a rectangular body scored transversely to define the twoleaves 30 and 3|. The blank is edge-notched at 33 and scored defining anoverlying leaf 30 provided with a concave recess in its free end, and anunderlying leaf 3I provided with a projecting tongue 32 at its free endand with a. longitudinal slot 34 which intersects the fold line of thewrapper blank and is of sufiicient width to accommodate the bladelocating projections of a safety razor. In enclosing a blade in thewrapper of Fig. 7 the blade is placed upon the underlying leaf 3|, withits slot in registration with the slot 34, and caused to adhere theretoby wax or oil spots and the overlying leaf 30 is then folded over uponthe upper face of the blade. The blade wrapped in this manner is thenenclosed in an outer envelope as explained in connection with Fig. 3,the overlying leaf 311 of the wrapper being secured by spots of adhesiveto the inner surface of the envelope and the tongue 32 projecting fromthe envelope beneath the short flap I2.

In withdrawing the wrapped blade of Fig. 8 from the envelope the tongue32 is grasped by the user and pulled toward the right drawing theunderlying leaf 3I with the blade lightly attached thereto out from theend of the envelope while the overlying leaf 30 is doubled under andstripped from the upper face of the blade on account of-its connectionwith the inside of the envelope. When further movement of the overlyingleaf 30 is arrested by the cemented spots, the wrapper is torn apart atits scored line thus opening the rear or left-hand end of the slot 34but leaving the blade 20 undisturbed on the underlying leaf inregistration with this slot.

The underlying leaf may now be utilized as a conveying medium in placingthe blade 20 in position in a safety razor 40 as suggested in Fig. 9. Inthis operation the slot in the leaf 3I and the slot in the blade areregistered with the bladelocating rib 42 of the safety razor, while therazor is held with its cap sections M in open position. Having thuslocated the blade, with its sharp edges continuously guarded by thesingle thickness of the underlying leaf 3|, the user has only to drawthe leaf 3| toward the right slipping it from beneath the blade out ofthe razor, leaving the blade in position to be clamped for shaving inthe razor.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing description that my inventionhas three distinct aspects and that these may be cooperatively employedas herein shown or utilized severally. There is the sealed, end-exitblade package, the blade-stripping package, and the package providing anunderlying conveying medium for placing the blade in a safety razor. Allthese aspects of the invention are represented in the dis closure ofFig. 8 and only the first in the disclosure of Fig. 4.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described certain specificembodiments thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure by LettersPat'- ent:

1. A protected blade having an inner wrapper folded into leavesenclosing the blade and a projecting tongue on one leaf only, and anouter envelope including overlapping parts and in which the blade andits wrapper are enclosed, the tongue of the wrapper being brought outunder an overlapping part of the envelope and one leaf of the wrapperbeing attached to the inside of the envelope whereby it is strippedlongitudinally from the blade when the blade is withdrawn from theenvelope by said tongue lying bare upon the other leaf of the wrapper.

2. A protectedblade having an inner wrapper with leaves enclosing theblade and a projecting tongue on one leaf only, and an outer envelopehaving a long end flap, side flaps overlapping said long end flap, and ash'ort end flap overlapping the folded side flaps of the envelope, theother leaf of the wrapper being secured to the inside of the envelopeand the tongue of the wrapper being brought out underneath the short endflap of the envelope.

3. A protected blade having an inner Wrapper folded with leaves on bothsides of the blade and provided with a projecting tongue on one leafonly, and an outer envelope having a flap folded with said tongue, thetongue-carrying leaf of the inner wrapper being slotted to accommodatethe blade-locating projections of a safety razor and the other leafbeing secured within the envelope, whereby that leaf is stripped fromthe blade when the blade is withdrawn from the envelope.

-4. A protected blade having an inner wrapper folded about a part of theblade, attached to one face of the blade and overlapping both itslongitudinal edges, a tongue projecting from one folded part only ofsaid inner wrapper, and an outer envelope having side and end flaps andenclosing the blade and its wrapper, the tongue of the wrapper beingbrought out under one of the end flaps of the envelope between sealedpoints therein.

5. A protected blade having an inner Wrapper folded about one end of theblade, attached to the blade and overlapping both of its longitudinaledges, a tongue projecting from one folded part only of said innerwrapper, and an outer envelope having an end flap covered by two sideflaps of the envelope and another end flap sealed at its end to the sideflaps of the envelope and overlapping the same, the tongue of theWrapper being folded about both fiat faces of said overlapping end flap.

JOSEPH MUROS.

